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Coffee and Doughnut Cupcakes Three Ways

Coffee and doughnut cupcakes are my attempt to wrap the complete experience of a lazy Sunday morning spent lounging in stained sweats, noshing on coffee and doughnuts, into a cupcake.

Oddly, I’m not the first person to make coffee and doughnut cupcakes (there are quite a few of us crazy cupcake innovators out there). I’ve identified three methods of preparing coffee and doughnut cupcakes. Most coffee and doughnut cupcakes (like the ones created by my all-time favorite cupcake blogger, Chockylit, the ones from my pals at C and C Cakery, and the totally adorable ones from Always with Butter) go for method 1. Method 1: Bake coffee cupcakes and top them with doughnuts. Method 1 makes for an irresistible presentation and affords you the ability to dip the doughnut in the frosting. However, I shot for a tad bit more integration between the doughnut and the coffee when I created method 2.
Method 2 is a unique and not necessarily optimal method. Method 2: Bake doughnuts (in my case, homemade Krispy Kreme doughnuts) into coffee cupcakes.

When the coffee and doughnut cupcakes emerged from the oven, the doughnuts had floated to the top like little life preservers. This isn’t the most attractive look for cupcakes, but once they are frosted, who cares? It’s really hard to beat finding a doughnut immersed in your cupcake. Yet, I was a bit disappointed with the cupcakes’ shelf life. The doughnut burrowed in these cupcakes will get stale if you don’t eat the cupcakes quickly. Straight from the oven, the doughnut’s edge is a bit chewy, but the inside is still light and flaky. Soon thereafter, the doughnut portion starts to taste rubbery and stale – still good bathed in whipped cream, but not ideal.

If I made coffee and doughnut cupcakes again, I’d opt for method 3. Method 3: Bake coffee cupcakes. Just before serving, warm them in the oven or microwave (hot cupcakes are always better), core a hole in them, drop a doughnut hole in the hole, and top with whipped cream or ice cream.